The present invention relates to a communication terminal that prints out a web page which is accessible through a network to enable a user to view the web page. The present invention also relates to a communication system employing such a communication terminal, and a communication program which can be executed in such devices.
Recently, a communication terminal that has a function of printing out a web page, which is accessible through a network, on a recording medium instead of displaying the web page on a display device has been developed. The function will be referred to as a web print function hereinafter. As example of such a communication terminal, a facsimile machine, a multi-function peripheral having a printing function and a network printer are known.
According to the web print function, in the conventional communication terminal, an image of the web page is printed out on the recording sheet. Therefore, there are cases where what can be done in a web browser cannot be done when the web print function is used. Recently, various techniques have been suggested to realize functions that have not been achieved using the web print function.
For example, generally a web page, which is accessible through a network, includes hyperlinks. When a hyperlink displayed on a screen of a personal computer is clicked using a mouse, the computer is controlled to access another web page indicated by the hyperlink. When such a web page is printed out on a recording sheet, however, it is impossible to select a hyperlink. Thus, it is impossible to access another web page indicated by the hyperlink.
In order to solve the problem, a technology as described below has been suggested.
Firstly, an accessed web page (i.e., a web page which the user accesses by operating a communication terminal) is printed out on a recording medium together with access data indicative of location information (e.g., URL) of the accessed web page. Then, the user draws a mark on the recording sheet at a position where an object corresponding to the hyperlink is printed. The recording sheet carrying the image of the web page and the mark drawn by the user is then scanned. Based on the access data as printed and the location of the mark drawn by the user, the communication terminal accesses the web page corresponding to the location information, and then, identifies access data indicative of the destination from the hyperlink corresponding to the object (i.e., hyperlink) located at the same position of the mark drawn by the user. Then, the communication terminal accesses the designated web page, and prints out the image of the web page corresponding to the hyperlink. It should be noted that an example of such a technology is disclosed in Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. HEI 10-283313.
According to the above-described technology, the user can use the function of the hyperlink even when the web page is a printed image.
A web page may include input fields where the user is required to input some information, and typically, the input information is transmitted to a predetermined destination. When such a web page is printed out on a recording sheet, it is impossible to input information in the input fields. Further, it is impossible to transmit information to the predetermined destination. No technology for solving the above problem has been suggested, and a technology that enables the above function has been desired recently.